Hi Guys! Today we have our first new recipe in our “Not So Traditional Thanksgiving Spread” and we’re replacing the typical thanksgiving centerpiece with a gorgeous Maple-Balsamic Roasted Duck and serving it with a simple, spiced cranberry and persimmon chutney.
I’m not going to lie, every year when thanksgiving dinner rolls around, I find myself with a plate loaded up with sides and a tiny sliver of turkey hanging off the corner. It’s true. I like a nice juicy turkey, but with so many amazing side dishes being passed around the table, it’s hard not to forget about the roasted turkey sometimes. Also, while I like turkey, I don’t love it. I also think that it’s difficult for a lot of people who aren’t celebrating with dozens of people to rationalize preparing an entire turkey. I totally understand and that’s why I think this roasted duck is the perfect thanksgiving turkey substitute. Think one duck won’t be enough? No problem, just roast two of them! The cooking time will still be much less than if you were roasting an entire turkey.
You’ll end up with a juicy duck with a sweet, tangy and crispy skin. It’s important to allow your duck to sit uncovered in the refrigerator overnight if you want the fat to render and the skin to crisp up. It’s also important to remember that because so much fat will render from the skin, you want to make sure the layer of aromatics is thick enough to work as an organic “wire” rack so that the back side of the duck doesn’t end up frying in its own fat.
We hope you guys will stick around the rest of the week as we get through the rest of our new recipes in our “not so traditional thanksgiving spread”! Enjoy! xx, Jenny
More recipes you might like:
Maple-Balsamic Roasted Duck with a Spiced Cranberry-Perssimon Chutney
INGREDIENTS
spiced cranberry-perssimon chutney
- 2 fuyu persimmons, peeled and diced
- 1 cup fresh cranberries (or frozen)
- ¼ cup light brown sugar
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 2 teaspoons honey
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
duck
- 1 (4-5 lb.) roasting duck
- 4 yellow onions, peeled and roughly chopped
- 5 tangerines, quartered
- 3 lemons, quartered
- 3 sprigs thyme
- salt and pepper to taste
glaze
- ½ cup (real) maple syrup
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 orange, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons Dijon or whole grain mustard
- 2 teaspoons fresh minced thyme
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
platter garnishes
- halved lemons
- halved tangerines/oranges
- fresh sage
INSTRUCTIONS
- For chutney: Place all ingredients into a medium pot and stir together. Place over medium high and simmer for 25 to 30 minutes or until cranberries and persimmons become tender and begin to melt together. Set aside until ready to use. (re-warm when ready to serve)
- 12 hours before roasting, place duck onto a clean plate and pierce skin all over with fork. Pat dry and place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, to allow skin to dry.
- Preheat oven to 375˚F.
- Remove duck from refrigerator and fill cavity with aromatics (onions, tangerines, lemons, thyme). Tie legs together with twine and tuck winds behind back.
- Arrange remaining aromatics in a roasting pan top with prepared duck. Generously season with salt and pepper and roast for about 30 minutes.
- While duck begins to roast, whisk together all glaze ingredients.
- Brush duck with glaze and continue to roast for about 1 hour, basting every 15 minutes.
- Once the internal temperature reaches 155˚F, raise the oven temperature up to 425˚F and finish roasting for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow duck to sit for about 10 minutes. Transfer onto a prepared platter and serve with chutney.
NOTES
- **Something to remember is that the skin will not have rendered as much as fat as when you just sear a breast, skin side down. To achieve the most crispy skinned bird, place duck under broiler for 2 to 4 minutes, turning as needed to prevent burning from the marinade
Did you make this recipe? We want to see!
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I love this recipe. My family and I didn’t care for the chutney. But the duck turns out delicious every year.
I wanted to love this, but it took way more time and was way more complicated than cooking a turkey! The cooking time is way off. It’s been two hours and the bird is not tender and I have had to both add a bit of hot water and reduce the baking temperature because of the glaze.
Hm, did you allow the skin to dry out in the refrigerator overnight? That’s a crucial part of the recipe. The glaze will definitely make the oven quite smokey, but will certainly not burn the duck itself. Lowering the temperature will definitely create a much longer cooking time and will prevent the skin from crisping up. The longer cooking time will also make the meat rather tough, so you want to be careful with that. Also remember that I noted at the bottom of the recipe that you shouldn’t expect a completely rendered and crispy duck with this recipe (this is totally different from a chinese style peking duck)…unless you sear the duck on all sides before roasting it.
I’ve made this recipe a handful of times with pretty nice results. I’m sorry this wasn’t the one for you, as I know buying and duck and cooking it up takes a bit more effort.
Just made this for Christmas Eve dinner and it was absolutely wonderful. Surprisingly simple yet delectable- everyone was raving about tasty the duck was and the chutney was very popular too. The duck was also very moist even though our baster broke before we roasted it. Will definitely be keeping this recipe on hand!
Jenny,
I’m making this for Christmas dinner for my family. I’m buying the duck from d’artagnan. any suggestions on which duck to use?
http://www.dartagnan.com/poultry-game-birds/Duck_2,default,sc.html
I would go with the Artagnan-Rohan bird! Good luck, I hope you enjoy!!
Hi! This recipe looks amazing I will try this for christmas!! Any suggestions on what fruits I could use instead of persimmons, since we don’t really have it in germany?
Thank you!
You can use mangos, papayas or apricots as well…if it’s a no go on any of those, you can substitute dried fruit (rehydrated in a little bit of white wine). Good luck!
Thanks for posting this recipe! I made it for a 4-person dinner last night and it was deeeelicious. The only thing I changed was the crosshatch pattern I decided to cut into my duck because it looked particularly fatty, and poking a fork into it as you recommended just wasn’t doing the trick. Here’s a pic of my bird: http://instagram.com/p/g9Tinyu_3I/
The added bonus was we made duck stock afterward with the remainders… I can’t wait to have some of that soup with dinner tonight.
Thanks again for the inspiration!
Jane
Oh my goodness, your bird looks AMAZING! And such a great idea to crosshatch the skin! So glad you enjoyed it!!
I love duck! My husband isn’t much of a fan, but one year I’d love to do a non-traditional dinner and have a roasted duck instead. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!
I’ve never attempted a duck but it seems like it would be a more feasible task than a whole turkey… and i think the maple balsamic glaze would go great on pork or chicken!!! thanks!!
I have never had duck, but this is gorgeous!! I love the Chutney!
Can you direct me on how to carve a duck? Amazing recipe my daughter sent me, I think she wants me to bake for her! And I will!
Hi Rudy! You carve the duck just like you would a turkey or chicken, with the exception of the breast…remember that the breast plate is much more shallow and the breasts should be removed completely (boneless) before slicing it crosswise and serving…this is also the best way to make sure every piece has a good fat to meat ratio on it!
Eventhough I’m from Berlin and we don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving over here I love this recipe, which is different than all the others you see wandering around varoius foodblogs these times :-)
And I might even try this next weekend – unfortunately not for thanksgiving – but I think this recipe ist perfect for these autumn days anymways!
And your photogrphy made me immediatly click on that pic! Awesome I would love to have a bit right now :-)!
Greetings
Since I’ll be spending Christmas stuck in Brighton away from family and friends I think I shall make this a treat to myself, plus I’m sure there’s lots of things I can do with the leftovers. Thank you!
I totally load up my Thanksgiving plate the same way! I barely have any turkey on my plate! I would totally load up on this duck though! This recipe is outstanding!! I have never seen a duck look so good!
I might not celebrate thanksgiving, but I totally understand the turkey thing. I can never be bothered to cook a 5 kilo turkey when I can have two ducks. Also my family likes duck better! So this recipe is definitely on my list to cook.
Love the flavour combo here and such stunning photography.